. Some successful Americans . ed him against wasting time andmoney upon an idle dream, the idea of doing away withmuch of the drudgery of harvesting led him to study theineffective machine that his father had made. The morehe studied the problem the more he became convinced thatit could be solved. After much experimenting he made a reaper which wouldcut straight grain very well, but which would not work ifthe grain were wet, lodged, or twisted. It was clear thatsuch a machine was of little value. A satisfactory onemust meet whatever conditions existed. By 1831 Mr. McCormick had devised and mad
. Some successful Americans . ed him against wasting time andmoney upon an idle dream, the idea of doing away withmuch of the drudgery of harvesting led him to study theineffective machine that his father had made. The morehe studied the problem the more he became convinced thatit could be solved. After much experimenting he made a reaper which wouldcut straight grain very well, but which would not work ifthe grain were wet, lodged, or twisted. It was clear thatsuch a machine was of little value. A satisfactory onemust meet whatever conditions existed. By 1831 Mr. McCormick had devised and made withhis own hands a reaper which did very satisfactory work; CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 8l but it had some serious defects, so he made no effort topatent it. A year later he had so far perfected the machinethat it cut fifty acres of wheat in a manner that fully estab-lished its practical value. Still McCormick was not satis-fied. He made further improvements, and in 1834 tookout a patent, but even then he was not ready to put the. Cyrus McCormicks Birthplace machine upon the market. It was not until 1840 that anywere sold. About 1835 the McCormicks engaged in smelting ironore. That had become a very profitable business, andseemed to promise more financial gain than the their new business continued to prosper, it is quitepossible that we should never have had the perfectedreaper; but owing to the decline in iron and because thecost of transportation to market by wagon was more than 82 SOME SUCCESSFUL AMERICANS the value of the product, during the panic of 1837 theirventure ended in disaster. Then young McCormick, withhis father and brothers, began to manufacture reapers intheir own shops on the farm. How often it happens thata seeming misfortune is a great blessing ! They had a primitive workshop at Walnut Grove andmade fewer than fifty machines the first year. Theyworked at a great disadvantage, as certain heavy parts
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectstatesmen, bookyear19
